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We've expanded the Grantham Stationmasters page to include some recollections of Harold Scampion, stationmaster from 1947 to 1963.

John Clayson

In the January 2017 issue, on pages 68-69, there are three photographs taken in August 1966 of diesel-electric and steam locomotives at Colsterworth.  Also, on pages 64-65, a photograph showing two locomotives on the narrow gauge tramway system at Waltham Quarries.

We received several very appreciative comments when Part 1 came out a few weeks back.  The sequel is now published, so why not look out your boots or bike this weekend (or anytime in the coming months) and take to the countryside, while exploring some local railway heritage?  There's a surprising amount still out there to discover!

The Woolsthorpe Branch Rediscovered - Part 2: Longmoor Lane to Denton

PS: we've slightly revised and updated Part 1 too.

The Tracks through Grantham team wish all our contributors and readers a very Happy New Year.  We look forward to seeing many of you again in April.

John Clayson

At risk of too much turkey and Christmas pudding?

Why not rediscover the Woolsthorpe Branch!

If you fancy a breath of fresh air over the Christmas and New Year holiday, while rediscovering some railway heritage, let our new group of pages, Railways Rediscovered, be your guide.

The first page of the group covers the northern half of the former Woolsthorpe Branch, a line built by the Great Northern Railway as long ago as the 1880s for ironstone traffic.  There's a good series of photographs which were taken recently while walking the northern section of the former branch from near Muston (Belvoir Junction) to Longmoor Lane, a distance of around 3 miles.

So why not get out and about, burn off a few excess calories and clear away the haze of over-indulgence?

Look out for the southern section of the Woolsthorpe Branch in the New Year.

It's 50 years or more since a stationmaster last walked Grantham's platforms in gold-braided cap and highly polished shoes.  We've been delving back in time to discover what the stationmaster's job entailed at Grantham between the 1850s and the 1960s, and who performed the role during that time.

Read more on our latest new page here.

The current issue of Steam World (Issue No. 354) has some Grantham and Barkston Junction interest in an article titled All Lines Lead to Loughborough by Peter Roulston, which starts on page 36.

Peter's spotting vists to Grantham from Loughborough in the late 1950s are described on pages 38-39, while on page 41 a couple of paragraphs describe Saturday trips by the Loughborough Railway Society to Barkston.

Colour-Rail photographs show Grantham station in August 1958 (including a porter with a barrow of boxes of Kia-Ora squash, doubtless bound for the down side refreshment room) on pages 36-37, and Barkston South Junction box in May 1959 on page 40.

Thanks to Mike Mather we've been able to add some interior shots of the signal box at High Dyke in 1974.  Go to this page and scroll down.

We've just added a page here with a list of books and a list of articles in periodicals and magazines we've found which have significant content about the railway in and around Grantham.